Orbital ATK, an industry leader in space vehicle launch systems, announced award of an engineering services contract to Titan Industries, a Tempe Arizona business specializing in Additive Manufacturing (AM). The contract focuses on application of AM techniques to current and future launch vehicles with the goal of improving performance and reducing vehicle weight.

“In an industry where the cost to launch a pound of payload is measured in tens of thousands of dollars, the benefits of applying 3D printing techniques to reduce weight are obvious,” said Esteen Bottlinger, Director of Mechanical Engineering at Orbital ATK. “The Titan team not only has the necessary experience in additive manufacturing, but they are also long-time veterans of the space industry.”

“We are proud to support Orbital ATK and to play a part in helping them continue to produce industry leading launch vehicles. The Design for Additive Manufacturing process has the ability to save significant weight, enhancing the already innovative designs in Orbital’s stable of launch vehicles,” said Joe Manzo, CEO of Titan.

The contract is initially set to run through December of 2016, with options to expand the contract to follow-on vehicle development, with anticipated efforts through 2017.

​Titan Industries specializes in design, analysis, and fabrication of titanium components by additive manufacturing. Our designs provide significant advantages in weight, time, and cost, by exploiting both the material property benefits of titanium and the design freedoms provided by additive manufacturing.

Titan and LAI, International’s strategic alliance is capable of delivering turn-key product development solutions from concept to production.